By: Tyler Stark
Redwood Ranger Football (4-2) is set to take on the (6-0) Porterville Panthers on Friday.
Redwood is coming off of a big 56-14 victory last week against El Diamante.
Friday’s win starts the Rangers off at (1-0) in East Yosemite League play.
The Ranger’s dominant victory against El Diamante started off a little rocky, Redwood’s defense gave up two first-quarter touchdowns to El Diamante.
Defensive end Kai Preisendorf ‘24 says that the early touchdowns can be attributed to his team taking a little bit to get going.
“It just took a while to flip that switch and kick it into gear, nothing that we couldn’t fix and we made our adjustments and it proved to pay off.”
When the Rangers found their rhythm they looked dominant and were in complete control of the matchup.
Linebacker Evan Gonzalez ‘23 says stating off league with a win feels great. “It is a great feeling to start league off with a win because now teams are trying to catch up and we can control how league goes.
Gonzalez continues by saying his team staying healthy is going to be key in league play.
“The key I think is going to be staying healthy and focused it’s late in the year lots of people and injured and lots of talk about playoffs, league, and Cowhide are floating around so staying healthy and focused is what’s key for us.”
Running back Jacob Perch ‘23 exploded for 3 rushing touchdowns against El Diamantae and feels that the key to another great game against Porterville will be continuing to work hard.
“I’m just going to work my hardest every practice to try and keep improving and coms game time I just have to give it all I’ve got.”
Perch continues by saying his offensive line has been a big part of the running games success this year.
“I think our strong point in our offense is the run game and that starts with our line. Our big boys have been able to turn it up and continue to be aggressive each game to give us running backs more opportunities for big plays. We just need to keep working hard every day at practice. We can’t afford bad practices.”
The Rangers run game has been stellar this season, if the Rangers are able to move the ball against Porterville like they did against El Diamante Redwood fans could be in store for another very exciting night.
Earlier this season Redwood spoiled Hanford’s perfect record in a 26-20 overtime win. . This week Redwood will be looking to beat sn undefeated Porterville team.
Quarterback Francisco “Frankie” Alvarez ‘23 says the key to knocking off another undefeated team will be great preparation this week.
“We need to have great practices all week and execute all game to get this win.”
Tyler Stark
Tyler Stark ('24) is in his freshmen year, and this is his first year writing for the Redwood Gigantea. Tyler hopes to work for Sports Illustrated in the future. you can contact him by email with: tyler.st3800@vusd.us
